Monday Prize Crossword / May 23, 2016
Dante likes his double and cryptic definitions. But is that shocking news? No.
Financial Times 15,246 by Goliath
Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of May 21, 2016
Financial Times 15,255 by IO
Difficult to solve and difficult to blog. Just plain difficult really. There are a couple of solutions that I still can’t explain even after a protracted search. Thank you Io for the mental workout and another chastening experience!
Guardian Cryptic 26,899 by Screw
Struggled to finish this, with several left unparsed until the end – I still can’t work out 16dn (Edit: thanks PGreen). Favourites 13ac and 8dn. Thanks, Screw.
Independent 9245 / Dac
What can we say? Another excellent Dac, which for some reason we found slightly tougher than normal. As usual, excellent surfaces, with an ingenious definition at 1d. We were delighted that our favourite … Read more >>
Inquisitor 1439: Evolution by Kruger
Preamble: Each clue contains either a single letter misprint in the definition or wordplay leading to an extra or missing letter (equal numbers of each). In clue order, the correct/extra/missing letters give an … Read more >>
Guardian 26,898 – Brendan
After a long break, Brendan seems to be making regular appearances again; a very welcome trend. As usual, this was not too hard – apart from the obscure (to me) 24d, but most … Read more >>
Independent 9,244 / Crosophile
Crosophile has served up this morning’s cruciverbal fare. I enjoyed this puzzle, finding it a challenge but not an insurmountable one. There was no point at which the solution suddenly revealed itself to … Read more >>
Financial Times 15,254 by DANTE
Clear clueing from Dante, and a couple of good jokes.
Guardian Cryptic 26,897 by Rufus
Typical Rufus fare
Independent 9243/Daedalus
Daedalus and I keep running into each other on Fifteensquared. This is his ninth Indy puzzle and I’ve blogged five of them. I’m still not warming to his style – I find it … Read more >>
Guardian Quiptic 863 / Nutmeg
Nutmeg has got the hang of these Quiptics, this one fits the brief exactly. Well almost, as I have one reservation (8dn). Either I have missed something (always possible!) or the subsidiary indication … Read more >>
Azed 2294 / normal service has resumed…
A rather tough puzzle that I just spent 2 hours solving in the lounge at Heathrow. On a hand-drawn grid. Not a pretty picture. I thought this was rather difficult and I think … Read more >>
Independent on Sunday 1,371 by Alchemi
A fairly rare Sunday outing from Alchemi, the first since January, as far as I can tell. My last couple in included 25 across, which doesn’t seem all that difficult and is rather … Read more >>
Everyman 3,633
The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3633.